


Routine (RotTMNT Steampunk AU)

by AloneB



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, But they're also adorable and I'd die for them, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, I said FLUFF, Leo and Mikey are little shits, Only they don't actually know they're brothers, Steampunk, There is not a single braincell in this fic, They're all dumbasses but especially Donnie, brother bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 21:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22033678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneB/pseuds/AloneB
Summary: Follow the pupil of the prestigious scientist Baron Draxum around the Steampunk New York City as he goes through his usual routine outside the lab. Now with more chaos!
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	Routine (RotTMNT Steampunk AU)

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, through unfortunate circumstances, they don't know they're actually brothers since they were separated when they were young. This fic was started before I completely changed my version and the character's backgrounds. So there'll be more, but differently.

It was noon and the streets of New York were bustling with people, as would be expected of the famous “city that never sleeps”. Occasionally somebody would bump into someone else or shoved away. Though, some people could go through completely unscathed compared to others.

A figure with a tophat which rose slightly above the crowd caught the attention of some near him. He could sometimes hear whispers of people who passed him even with the amount of talking that already filled the streets.

The young man had a half-lidded gaze which showed a clear lack of interest in others, he walked forward confidently without even attempting to maneuver around anybody and wore clothes that reeked authority thus clearly showing off his higher status. Besides the purple mask that he wore that is. He carried a suitcase in his left hand while holding a walking cane with his right. What was most interesting, however, was his anthropomorphic turtle appearance.

Everybody knew of the famous mutant epidemic. How human and animal were turned into something almost no different from a Yokai. Nobody knows where it came from or why it exists, but it definitely put a high strain on the relationship between the two races, even with how long they have lived among each other. Luckily, it would be hard to say for certain is somebody if mutant or Yokai. So, life doesn’t change for the worse too much.

The young mutant’s head turned when he noticed his first destination in the corner of his eye. The grocery store. As he opened the door to enter, the ringing of a bell could be heard. The few people in his vicinity turned their heads to him with wide eyes. Considering that this was a mere store, it was certainly unexpected to see somebody dressed like a noble walk in.

The mutant didn’t put any mind to them and went through an aisle he remembered the objects he was searching for being in. Upon finding it, he stared at the multiple choices he had. Until he noticed a small dark-skinned boy with glasses, who he assumed was a stock boy, staring at him with gleaming eyes of awe while carrying a box of supplies.

When they shared eye contact the boy flinched and lost grip onto the box he was holding, accidentally dropping the supplies onto the ground. The boy stammered an apology before going on his knees to pick up the food wares scattered over the ground. Luckily, the food was all packed and none of it seemed to be damaged, so he wouldn’t have to clean up any mess nor throw anything out.

The boy’s attention was caught when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, along with the small taps of a walking cane hitting the floor, and looked up to see the mutant standing in front of the fallen supplies. The stranger placed his suitcase onto the tiled floor next to him as he bend his knees and used his cane to balance himself. He picked up some of the food ware with his free hand and putting them in the box, and continued to do so. The boy was quickly caught staring again when the turtle raised a brow when noticing he was the only one gathering the supplies. The boy flinched before rapidly gathering the supplies with the help of the stranger.

It only took a small amount of time before they finished. They both stood up before the boy picked up the box again. “Thank you, sir.” The boy shifted his arm so he carried the box with one arm, while he placed his other hand on his chest with a confident smile, “My name is Baxter Stockboy, stock boy at Stock & Shop and self-made inventor,” He held out his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet a scientist working under Baron Draxum.”

The mutant looked at the boy’s stretched out hand with his typical disinterested look before looking back at the boy’s face. A few beads of sweat appeared on Baxter’s forehead as the scientist still hadn’t shaken his hand like intended.

He was about to return his hand till he felt another grasp it, “Donatello.” Baxter looked down at the mutant’s hand, only now noticing how it had three fingers. Donatello was first to let go before bending over to grab the handle of his suitcase, lifting it up as he stood straight again. “Now, I’ll have to get going,” The scientist turned around on his heels before holding up a hand as a gesture, “Goodbye.”

Baxter stared at the mutant as he left for a few seconds until he heard the sound of his father calling his name, “Baxter?” The boy flinched before turning to the source of the noise, “Coming, father!”

Donatello approached the small row of people standing in front of the counter. The majority didn’t even seem to notice him as they were focused on the end of the row. Unlike most, who had at least a bag filled with groceries, the softshell didn’t seem to have any groceries on him.

The lady behind the counter flinched when she lay eyes on the well-dressed scientist. She was about to open her mouth to greet him, but Donatello skipped over that and placed his cane against the counter, before grabbing the chocolate bar he had put in his pocket and holding it out. The lady stared at the plastic-wrapped piece of candy, almost like she was trying to find something special about it.

It started to take too long for Donatello’s liking and his brows furrowed into a frown, the lady looked up to see his displeased face and stammered, “U-uhm, my apologies. That will be two cents-”

The lady couldn’t fully finish her sentence before Donatello had already placed the bar of chocolate in the pocket of his jacket, and placed the requested price on the counter. He’s already wasted enough time and he still has two places to visit. The lady and few people that were previously behind him, stared as he left through the door.

Now for the young scientist’s second destination, a junkyard. Besides being a scientist, Donatello is also an inventor. It’s not much more than a hobby, which is approved of by his superior and father-figure Baron Draxum.

While traveling over the streets of New York, the crowd eventually thinned when he came closer to his destination. There was a metal entrance with a sign reading: “Repo Mantis Salvage”, while the rest of the junkyard was surrounded by a fence. The turtle walked onto the terrain, a small hint of amazement in his eyes as he looked over all the discarded pieces of cars, robots, or other machinery.

The turtle suddenly caught a beam of light in his eyes, causing him to look away and hold a hand in front of his face to shield his eyes. He took a step back before looking for the source and found a barely damaged robot in the top of a rather large heap of scrap metal. He turned in his tracks to the hill of metal, placing the goggles, which were previously on the rim of his hat, on his eyes. Using them to be able to inspect the robot from far off.

The robot consisted of a simple torso, which carried a head shaped like the top of a half-circle. The head had a single camera attached to it, which seemed to be what reflected the light in his direction. It also had wires which hung out of the underside of the head and it had a dent in the top. Furthermore, the robot had a wheel which seemed to be it’s only form of transportation, and lastly four arms which were way too long for its body, attached with a few simple screws.

A smirk spread over Donatello’s face as he removed the goggles from his eyes and carefully placed the suitcase on the ground, “Perfect.”

He crouched in front of his suitcase, placing his cane next to it. He eagerly opened the case to see its contents neatly sorted. The upper lid of the suitcase had a pocket filled with a few stacks of paper money for this occasion, and the lower lid had many tools sorted over it. Donnie’s eyes traced over the tools before landing on the one he needed. A screwdriver.

He closed the case after retrieving the tool, a smile on his face. He stood up from his place before he looked from the bottom to the top of the hill. He felt a shiver down his spine and a beat of sweat trail down his face by the thought of being up so high off of the safe ground. He took a deep breath, before he placed the handle of the screwdriver between his teeth to free his hand, then bravely conquering the mountain made of metal.

The thing to hold in mind is that this specific scientist is not specialized in physical activities. It wasn’t a necessity in Draxum’s eyes, nor was Donatello interested in it anyhow. It would’ve definitely made the climb easier, however.

Continuously the scientist tried to reach for another object that looked solid enough, which, when he’d reach it, he’d cling onto as if his life depended on it. It worked for a while until the next object he latched onto, a rusty pole, started creaking and slowly bend over with the turtle still hanging onto it. The mutant shot into a panic as he rapidly crawled away from the pole just a moment before it slid out of its place in the scrap pile and was dragged down by gravity, making an awful lot of sound as it bumped into other metal parts before finally hitting the ground.

When everything finally fell silent again, Donatello took a deep breath, only now realizing he’s held it the entire time. His eyes turned wide when suddenly the sound of creaking and groaning metal returned. The pile started shifting slightly, reforming to make up for the piece of it that was just lost, though it was only for a moment before it stopped.

Donatello looked at the top to check on if the robot was still in its place. Unlike earlier, it was now hanging dangerously hanging over the edge. One of its arms was hanging loosely in the air, another resting on the metal beneath it. With how unstable it now was, any sane person would leave as quickly as possible. The young scientist isn’t known for his sanity however and continued climbing the pile of metal with newfound courage.

He stopped leaping from one place to another. This time holding onto anywhere nearby he could get a proper grip on and placing his feet wherever he properly could, before then lifting himself up and reaching for another place to hold onto. 

Climbing a pile of metal is still a risk, which was very apparent when Donatello almost arrived at the top. A piece of metal he deemed a hold earlier, suddenly came loose as he tried to hold onto another grip. He quickly let go of the piece as it clattered off the pile, quickly holding onto something else.

He didn’t do so for long when he noticed movement right above him. He looked up to see the robot had toppled into his direction, just a second away from falling over towards him. Before impact, Donatello had held out his arms to try and catch the machine and prevent it from being damaged further, while also keeping it from colliding with his face

Though he did manage to hold onto the robot, the weight wasn’t something he held in mind as he toppled backwards and his small feeling of victory turned into dread. Before he’d fall onto his back, he turned his body to place the robot under him. The last bit of balance he still had was lost by that, and he started sliding off the pile with the robot as his only protection.

Donatello has his teeth gritted onto the screwdriver handle and eyes widened as he held onto the shoulder of the robotic with one hand while holding onto the rim of his tophat with the other. The robot bumped into and slid over all the metal. The robot’s head was quickly mutilated by the impact it had to endure, the front of its body was ripped open and scratches covered its sides. If it wasn’t out of order already, it sure was now.

A very unluckily placed ramp was right in front of the robot surfing scientist, laying eyes on it only a moment before he reached it. His eyes widened in fear and his grip onto his “vehicle” turned deadly as he waited for the moment to pass.

A split second later he flew through the air while holding onto the destroyed piece of robotica. Letting out a scream as he realized how far up he was, causing the screwdriver to fall. His eyes darted towards the tool before he let go off the robot, straddling it with his legs. He used his tophat to snatch the tool out of the air, surprisingly succeeding. The sudden movement caused them to spin in a circle, Donatello reacted by immediately holding onto the robot yet again, and placing the tophat, which still contained the tool, onto his head, as the robot spun around once.

Donatello’s shrieking was shortly paused when he and the robot hung still in the air for a small moment, just to then drop towards the ground, causing the screaming to continue. The robot hit the ground loudly, spinning and sliding over the ground as Donatello still held onto it.

By the time it was finally over, Donatello still had a firm grasp of the robot as he was shaking out of fear. His eyes darted around for a moment as if he was expecting something else to show up, before finally letting go and falling with his back onto the dusty ground.

He caught himself staring at the sky while he tried regaining his breath. A few thin clouds covering the beautiful blue color. His eyelids lowered slightly as he felt the exhaustion finally settle. He can’t remember the last time he had a proper break. Besides when he slept, he’s always focused on his projects, not leaving him anytime for breaks.

His breaths slowed as his eyelids slowly fluttered shut, “Hey, kid-” A voice suddenly called from behind him.

Donatello’s eyes shot open as he jumped onto his feet. He stumbled and waved his arms to prevent himself from falling over. Upon regaining balance, he turned around on his heels to face the person who snuck up on him. There stood a praying mantis mutant with purple-colored skin and a pompadour hairstyle.

Donatello has met him before. The young inventor had gone to this junkyard on many more occasions, so it wasn’t unusual that he knew of the existence of this mutant. The man’s name is Repo Mantis, and he owns this junkyard, but that’s about how far his knowledge about the man goes. For as far as Donatello is concerned, they’re strangers to each other. 

“Huh. I almost thought I’d have to get rid of another body.” The fellow mutant spoke. Donatello raised a brow at his statement before the man coughed into the blade that had replaced his hand, “Anyway... you gonna pay for that?” He pointed his blade over Donatello’s shoulder. He looked over it to see Repo was gesturing at the destroyed robot.

Donatello turned his face back to the mantis, “Yes, I will- uh…” Donatello frantically looked around for his suitcase, finding it, along with his cane, a few meters away from where they were standing.

Donatello proceeded to hop off towards his possessions, Repo following him shortly after. The young scientist went through his knees when he arrived by his case, quickly opening it with a click. Upon the mutant mantis arriving behind the client, the case was already closed again. Donatello lifted the case as he stood up, turning around the face Repo.

In his hand, Donatello held a few stacks of paper money, which he assumed would be enough for the specific item he wanted. “Will this be enough?”

Repo answered with a grin before he snatched the stacks of money out of his hand, “The robot’s all yours, kid.” He responded as he took a closer look at the paper money, walking off to leave the teen to do his thing.

Donatello watched the man leave before his gaze switched over to the destroyed robot that lay sadly on the duty ground. The sides were covered with dirt it’s body was completely ripped open, the head was completely unrecognizable from what it once was, and the only wheel it had was bent. The only thing that was still remotely intact were it’s four arms.

After about fifteen minutes, Donatello had left the junkyard. Cane and suitcase in hand and the parts that he needed in the aforementioned suitcase, which was noticeably heavier than it was before. His next and last destination was in one of the busier streets, more occupied by lower and middle-class people.

Shops and cafes were everywhere you would look, which made this street even busier. Street performers particularly loved these parts of the city, which was why they were everywhere you looked. Some were more annoying than others, and Donatello looked for the most annoying one of them all.

“For my last trick, I’ll turn into disappointment!” One of many voices shouted from behind a crowd. Donatello knew this particular one however and turned to where he believed it came from.

He found the red-eared slider turtle performing one of his many tricks as Donatello peeked over the crowd. The other turtle’s mask was blue-colored and made the red stripes over his eyes stand out even more. The softshell turtle rolled his eyes at the blue-clad turtle’s announcement, a small smirk appearing on his face.

The last trick the red-eared slider announced, went exactly as planned as he landed on his head with a thud. The street performer’s eyes were spiraling as he tried to regain consciousness, and the crowd laughed in amusement. The street performer rubbed the sore spot on his head as he slowly stood up, not to possibly trip over nothing as the landing had certainly dizzied him. He smiled happily as he realized that he had done his job well; making people laugh. Along with something else, but that isn’t important.

The entertainer chuckled shortly as the laughter dimmed and he could speak, “Thank you! Thank you!” He said while bowing twice, “Don’t forget to throw in something!” He grinned while pointing at the hat that lay in front of him, which had a decent amount of money in it already.

The crowd quickly thinned, there only being a few goodhearted people to spare a few coins. The turtle kept up a grin as coins were dropped into the hat. The small pieces of metal hitting the small heap of coins already in the hat, created a satisfying sound to him. Though, it didn’t sound for long.

The red-eared slider picked up the hat off the ground, it’s content making rattling sounds. There wasn’t anything truly off about the quantity, he gains about as much as every street performer. It was only that-

He heard a sudden “ping” before another coin landed inside the hat, much to his surprise. “Sorry, I’m later than usual.” The sudden visitor spoke, a smirk on his face as the street performer looked up to see the person he’s been expecting.

Donatello removed his cane from its position pressed between his upper arm and his side, previously done so to free his hand. The red-eared slider grinned till his eyes quickly fell on the suitcase. Wouldn’t be the first time the inventor brought one, though it wasn’t a usual thing.

Leo’s grin widened before he slid towards his companion, “Aww, Donnie, you brought a present? How thoughtful of you.” He slyly reached for the handle of the suitcase while keeping his eyes on the person in front of him.

It wasn’t very hard to notice however before Donnie spun his cane around and hit the end of it on entertainer's hand. Doing so successfully. The blue-masked turtle yelped at the sudden but slightly pain as he retracted hand, momentarily shaking it before holding it with his other hand.

The inventor proceeded to spin his cane back around almost gracefully before placing the end on the dirt street again, “Leo, I thought after this much time on the streets, you’d know better than to try to steal from right in front of me.” Donatello spoke as he looked at his friend with amusement.

Leo looked up from his hand at Donnie, a mischievous grin on his face. It took Donatello too long to realize the meaning of it before the suitcase was pulled out of his hand. “Got it!” A voice called, obviously no ill-will behind stealing his possession. Mainly so obvious because the child was skilled enough at his job to know better than to shout when he stole, or at least Donatello was aware of that.

The softshell turned around to see just the person he expected. The younger orange-masked box turtle carried the stolen suitcase under his arm, face turned around at Donnie to stick his tongue out at him.

Donnie’s bewildered expression turned into one of annoyance as he frowned, “Mikey! Give it back!” He shouted as he went after the small thief. The younger turtle shortly turned around with a grin, “Come and get it!” He replied before running away from the scientist again.

Leo watched the chaos unfold on the sidelines. Enjoying it greatly. Mikey was much more acrobatic and energetic than Donatello was, usually in a lab working on his newest projects, and the closest thing to exercise that he gets being walking. Which was why it was all the more hilarious.

Leo would stifle his laughter whenever Donnie would stumble, wave his arms around, or try to grab Mikey and failing incredibly at it. Mikey and Leo seemed to be the only ones enjoying it though, as the surrounding people saw something else happening.

Donnie gritted his teeth as he lashed out for his suitcase once more, but Mikey was on time to hold it above his head and out of the clumsy inventor’s reach. He tried once again, but as before, Mikey was faster and held it in front of him before he sprinted off.

The softshell had had it, suddenly jumping at the box turtle. Who, luckily or sadly depending on your standing, managed to sidestep and thus evade the flying scientist, who proceeded to land face-first onto the street. Bystanders gasped and started muttering, while Leo’s laughing in the background was very noticeable through it.

Mikey chuckled at it as well as he saw the inventor lying on the ground. Donnie used his arms to raise his upper body, looking around for the young thief. He was seething from anger, till his dust-covered expression changed more to surprise and worry, to Mikey’s confusion. That was until he yelped as somebody roughly lifted him off the ground.

He was turned around to look right at a robotic mask. The person holding him had a uniform on, along with an exoskeleton you’d usually find inside a robot, used to enhance the strength of the person. The person that held him, was accompanied by another that looked almost identical. They generally looked more robot than human, but it was certain that they were no that. It was the police.

Mikey gulped as he slightly retracted his head into his shell, being held eye-to-eye, as much as he could see them through the mask, with exactly the people he should avoid at all times. Which might be an exaggeration but it would definitely not be the greatest idea for him to go searching for police as a pickpocket.

The person glanced at the suitcase Mikey hugged against his chest, not hesitating to grab hold of it and pull it out of the child’s grasp, as much as he tried to keep it with him, “Keep your little daddles to yourself.” The police person spat as they held the suitcase away from him, he could gather from the voice that the person was most likely a man.

Donnie scrambled to stand up before immediately rushing towards the policeman, “Excuse me, sir, this is-” He frantically tried to excuse Mikey’s actions. Which the man didn’t care much for it as he tossed the suitcase to the well-dressed teen. “Take better care of it next time.” The policeman’s partner told him.

Donatello was baffled by how they didn’t seem to care for what he said, much unlike usual. The two police officers turned around to leave, still holding onto Mikey’s collar, which was exactly why the young turtle started to freak out.

“No! Stop!” The young teen yelled as he started kicking and flailing in a panic. The police’s arm didn’t budge, the mechanics of the exoskeleton keeping his arm in a lock.

Donnie just snapped out of his daze as Leo rushed next to him, watching his only family get dragged away. Leo gritted his teeth as he was about to go after them, till Donnie grabbed him by his upper arm and dragged him back to his previous spot next to the inventor.

Before Leo could question him, Donnie dropped his cane and shoved his suitcase into Leo’s arms, “Hold onto this for a moment, please.” He told him before opening it up. Leo managed to get a peek of what it contained, tools, robotic arms, and money. A lot of money.

Donnie grabbed a handful of the alluring green bills before closing the suitcase, leaving it with Leo before chasing after the police officers and the struggling Mikey. The officers seemingly getting increasingly annoyed by it. “Hey, police!” The purple-clad mutant called as he was approaching, leading to the two policemen turning around as expected.

Now, any normal person would try to possibly explain, maybe even bargain, but not him. Donnie flung multiple stacks of sweet American dollars right at the faces of the police, catching the eye of everyone in this lower and middle-class street. The impact of the neatly stacked bills with the masks, caused them to fall apart and flutter beautifully in the air.

Now what was even more beautiful, was the typical display of human greed. The policeman was so distracted by the amount of money literally flying in his face, that the locks of the exoskeleton let go, thus lowering Mikey on the ground. The young turtle took the chance to immediately grab onto the officer’s wrist, and jerked it off of his collar, not hesitating to then run for it.

It was then, that the bystanders managed to process what happened. Quickly there was cheering, yelling, and screaming as crowds of people rushed to the great amount of money that was just tossed. Creating a perfect hindrance and distraction.

As Mikey ran, he quickly found Donnie between all of the commotion, immediately turning towards him. The softshell hadn’t taken his eyes off the younger mutant and grabbed his wrist before both running off towards Leo, who was completely dumbfounded with what just happened.

Letting go off Mikey as the approached Leo, Donnie snatched his cane off the ground and then snatched the suitcase out of Leo’s arms before all the three teens ran off. As their faces first expressed panic, they were now grinning and laughing as fate seemed to have it their way.

When the three were out of sight, they ran into the nearest and possibly safest alleyway they could find. Gasping for air from the sprint, none of them standing upright. Leo was leaning against a wall, Mikey was lying on the ground, and even Donnie, with his expensive suit, was sitting down on nothing else but the ground.

“That wasn’t part… of my usual routine.” Donnie spoke between gasps. Leo snickered at what he said before plopping next to him onto the ground, placing an arm on Donnie’s shoulder, “Routines don’t exist when you’re with us.” The red-eared slider smirked as he pointed his thumb at himself.

A smile perked on Donnie’s face before he then reached into the left pocket of his jacket, taking out the chocolate bar and holding it up. The gloved three-fingered hand of the youngest teen suddenly retracted from the right pocket before snatching the bar out of the purple-clad mutant’s hand.

The box turtle shuffled over to sit next to Donnie, holding the candy bar with both hands to shortly inspect it, before then turning his face to Donnie, smiling before suddenly wrapping his arms around him, “Thank you.”

Donnie noticeably tensed up every time with the slightest touch from either of the two, which was clearly noticed by them. Though, they knew very well that if Donnie wasn’t okay with it, he’d make it known. Either way, the smile that spread over his face, made it all the more obvious he was more than okay with it.


End file.
